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EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you should know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #WATER CHARGES: Householders are facing a charge of around €40 per year over a 20 year period for the installation of water meters, it is being reported this morning. The Irish Times says that a loan from the National Pension Reserve Fund will pay for the installation of the meters but some will have no meter and face ‘assessed charges’. The proposed water meters that will be discussed by the cabinet later today where the government is expected to sign-off on the new State body that will implement the system.
2. #TROIKA: Officials from the Troika are back in Dublin today to carry out their sixth quarterly review of Ireland’s bailout. With unemployment at 14.3 per cent, officials from the EU, IMF and ECB are expected to review the Pathways to Work programme as well as other developments on the loan agreement.
3. #BREIVIK: The trial of the Anders Behring Breivik, the man who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, continues today with Breivik expected to give evidence to the court. Unlike some proceedings, his testimony will not be televised. Already this morning the court has had to deal with the issue of one of its lay judges posting on their Facebook profile that Breivik deserved to be executed.
4. #DRINK DRIVING: Motorists who are convicted of drink-driving could reduce the amount of time they are disqualified by undergoing a training course at their own expense, the papers report this morning. The Irish Examiner, the Irish Times and the Irish Independent report that plans are being considered by the government which could see bans reduced by up to a quarter.
5. #FRACKING: The controversial process of extracting shale gas from the ground, fracking, has been given the green light in the UK with experts advising the government that it can be used despite concerns raised by environmentalists and others. The Guardian reports that it has been given the go ahead despite it known to have caused two earthquakes.
6. #BUILDING BOOM: An Taisce has said that flaws in buildings that were “thrown up” during the Celtic Tiger property building boom will become more apparent in years to come. In its report on Ireland’s planning sustem yesterday the heritage body expressed concern that there could be many more examples of buildings like Priory Hall in north Dublin.
7. #AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that she plans to withdraw the country’s 1,500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2013 – an election year. The announcement came in a speech in Canberra overnight, BBC News reports. Most international troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, theoretically having handed over control of security operations to Afghan forces.
8. #BUSTED: Authorities in the US have said that they have uncovered a secret internet drugs markets where LSD, ecstasy and other illegal substances could be bought through an online ring known as The Farmer’s Market. BBC News reports that at least eight people are being held in the US, the Netherlands and Colombia on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
9. #BIG FELLA: The grand-niece of Michael Collins, Mary Banotti, has said that she finds the auctioning off of a lock of the revolutionary’s hair and a cotton swab used to clean his corpse “really appalling”. The former Fine Gael presidential candidate told RTÉ Radio this morning that many of her family were upset by the auctioning of such items tomorrow.
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Surely this is condidential contractual information between a renter and landlord?
…And revenue.ie?
in large areas this info is not so useful, finding an average rent for Dublin 2 two bed apartments is fairly meaningless, no distinction of brand new vs 30 years old, more expensive parts of post code vs less expensive. could be extremely misleading if at too broad a level, possibly worse than no info
I agree 100% unless they post prices with pictures together and also some detailed info of features and square size of living area, then it makes more sense and only then gives you fair idea. Usually the golden rule works in real estate: you get what you pay for..
no more misleading than the constant claims from daft that rents are rising (lies) this survey shows rents are actually falling in Dublin, and is certainly more trustworthy.
It certainly seems that rents are rising. Was away for 6 months and struggled to find apartment. Third less apartments on market now than a year ago.
This is a great step in the right direction . If ur in a block of apartments built at the same time this is very useful!
This information is key as it ensures transparency which prevent bubbles, speculation and the best value for all. It’s also not private information as all income is taxable and some people also receive state supports with their rent. All in all this is a good development.
Zegakly! Openness and transparency is for the good of all.
More snooping by government agencies I would imagine to try to get more money from people rather then trying to apply Amy real rules to the sector
I don’t think this is snooping. I’d say this has more to do with Rent Allowance being paid out by the state. It’ll give the government an idea on rents in a certain area and see if money can be saved.
This is confidential information.
Unless it’s in some way anonymized or averaged over an area it’s a violation of personal financial information.
This is a good thing. The private rented sector is the wild west of the property market. Half the landlords out there are either reluctant buy-to-let types without a clue of even the basics of business or fast buck merchants with a devil-may-care attitude to Residential Tenancies Act. The fact the the majority of cases in front of the PRTB are for illegally held deposits, 92% of flats in a recent investigation failed to meet even minimum legal standards (which are pretty damn low) and the fact that a sizable chunk of landlords out there that seem to think that because the are renting out property the laws of the land do not apply to them means that any move to regulate this sector is welcome.
The sector is unprofessional, legal standards are not enforced, prices vary widely (and are usually down to an individual’s negotiating skills or lack thereof) and the end product is both bad and overpriced. This is a disincentive to living and working in Dublin and needs to be addressed. Possibly the only worthwhile thing Labour have done in government so far.
I support this. It provides for greater transparency all around. Let’s not hope the data gets manipulated…
I know people who because of rent changes have now made agreement with their landlord to say the rent is a certain amount ( allowed for ur family size by the rent section) and then pay extra cash in hand to the landlord , so they don’t have to move yet again as its so hard to find houses within ur allowance and area u want to be in . I think the rent section and the councils should work together and buy property’s and rent them to tenants so in the long run the money goes into housing which the councils and sate own instead of paying landlords forever more ..
Not sure about the accuracy of this… No data for 1 bedroom apartments in Rathmines or Ranelagh (I thought there would be lots of those type of places there) yet the average rent of a 1 bedroom apartment in Wellington Dublin 6W is 1188.89 per month??!!
It seems like this might be a good idea. If they did a survey of asked for rents and paid rents, they could a: get a better idea of how much people are able to pay, and b: give rental property owners a better idea of what rents they should be asking for. I’ve always thought it was odd that rents aren’t based on what people, individually, pay but rather, are based on the average rents paid over large areas.
Have you tried to use the system? Not very easy to use……..
This is a serious breach of privacy. I don’t want people knowing how much rent I pay. It’s none of their business. What if an employer found out someone was paying very little rent and decided to deny a pay increase?
I think this is just another way of exposing people to the Revenue.
have your say